Lakers News: Four Takeaways from Lakers-Nets Exhibition Game
The Lakers and Nets kick off the first NBA preseason game for the league. Kendrick Nunn, Kent Bazemore, Talen Horton-Tucker, Anthony Davis, and DeAndre Davis round up the starting lineup for the Lakers today. Anthony Davis was the only star from both teams to suit up, as he only played seven minutes in the first quarter. The Nets ran away with this game in the fourth quarter, once the Lakers rested all their regular rotation players, for the final score of 123-97. The Lakers play the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday at 2PM in Phoenix.
Here are four takeaways that stood out during the game.
Players That Stood Out
Horton-Tucker looked assertive to start the game, leading the team with Davis with six points apiece His knack for getting to the rim at ease is not questioned, but many people will be watching to see if his perimeter shot has improved over the summer. This monstrous dunk he had in the first quarter was definitely the highlight of the game.
Malik Monk came in with the second unit and proved to live up to his Microwave moniker, starting 4-6 shooting with 10 quick points. He played 21 minutes and finished with 15 points on 3-5 shooting from the perimeter.
Dwight Howard only played 13 minutes, but showed what the Lakers were missing from last year. His ability to own the paint gives other teams a headache to deal with, especially when Davis is also on the court. He was up to his dirty tricks again, as he was whistled for a technical foul, after hitting his opponent in the face while boxing out.
AD At the Five
Davis reentered the game around the 3:30 minute mark in the first quarter to play the five. There has been a lot of talk about the Brow playing more center minutes over the summer, and it looks like that seems to be a point of emphasis to get him looks there early on.
Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving was present with the Brooklyn Nets bench. He was with the team in San Diego during the past week of training camp. It has been well documented that he is unvaccinated and it may cause issues with vaccine mandates when he plays home games. Opponents, especially the Lakers, will be closely monitoring this situation.
G-League
Rookie Austin Reaves came into the game to start the second quarter. The second half saw a lot of action for the upcoming South Bay Lakers, as Joel Ayayi, Reaves, Chaundee Brown, Cameron Oliver, and Matt McClung played the majority of the second half. After the Lakers cut it to 3 after three quarters, the G-League squad were outscored 24-2 within the first six minutes of the fourth quarter.
Former Lakers champion Devontae Cacok suited up for the Brooklyn Nets in perhaps his own revenge game. He played twelve minutes and scored nine points. He finished the game with the highest plus/minus of 23.
